PH to acquire facial recognition software: Lorenzana

The defense chief said they are also planning to buy drones or unmanned aerial vehicles to help intelligence operations against the terror threat. (Photo by 6ID via PNA)

MANILA — The Philippines will acquire facial recognition software to support the ongoing campaign against terrorism, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Tuesday.

“In line with that, we are acquiring some technical capabilities. We are looking at facial recognition software so that we can easily track down the bad guys,” Lorenzana said when asked what upgrades the military would have, during an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.

The interview took place in Singapore on the sidelines of the 17th Shangri-La Dialogue on June 1-3.

The defense chief said they are also planning to buy drones or unmanned aerial vehicles to help intelligence operations against the terror threat.

“Now, we have acquired some (drones) from the United States, the Scaneagle and the small drones that have powerful signal capabilities. Now, if our orders for bigger drones come, then it will improve our intelligence capabilities,” he added.

Lorenzana, however, noted the need for people capable of handling and interpreting data gathered by these systems.

“But you know improvements for intelligence capabilities are as good as the people who manage them (and) interpret data. We still need human intelligence, people who go down and see things on the ground in their own eyes and feel what’s happening on the ground so they can report reports to higher (headquarters),” he added.